A Community To Come Home T
To . . .
A Director’s Welcome
Coming from another state, I wondered what my home town library had become and what it meant
to the community. I found out quickly…it’s progressive, customer driven, dynamic, reputable and integral to
our well-being.
being. Not only is it a great library but it has evolved into a modern, vital part of the community--it
community
is a community.
munity. Every day I am here, I never cease to wonder at the impact this staff, the services, and
facility have upon the people of Poplar Bluff and our surrounding areas. Regardless of age or circumstance,
people go out of the building with armloads of boo
books. They bring their Nooks, iPads, Kindles, Androids, and
smart phones. They use the library’s WiFi, download eBooks, and listen to eAudiobooks.
udiobooks. Computer stations
are constantly busy and the patrons always want more. They learn about new resources and staff
st is here to
assist them. Our library staff mines the endless opportunities we have for creating dynamic service.
Never in my wildest dreams did I believe I could come home to live. Since beginning college, I have
not lived in Butler County more than ttwo
wo months at a time. I have come back often to visit my family, but it
has not been my community until now. I got my first library card from Poplar Bluff Public Library and
participated in summer reading as so many children do today. While a library stude
student
nt at the University of
Missouri, I completed my library internship at this library. After college, I moved to Tennessee, went to work,
married, and raised my family. Now, I am back home. I am so happy to renew acquaintances and friendships.
Every time I turn around, I am greeted warmly and others tell me they came back home, too. This is the
place to be.
Please join me as we work together to maintain and grow your library. Let’s partner and work for
continuing to help our community thrive and tell peopl
peoplee how fortunate we are to live here.
Thank you for all of your good wishes. I look forward to serving you in this community.

More than 98% of the
libraryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s funding comes
directly from the
community of Poplar
Bluff.

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CHILDREN’S LIBRARY CONNECTS WITH YOUNG READERS
The Children’s Library is experiencing great success with the
book store/library hybrid model of shelving material. We shelve
books, DVDs and audios the way children want to find them. They
look for bugs, farms, animals, princesses, etc. They find it all in
one location, fiction and non-fiction
fiction alike.
iKids was launched in 2012. Here cchildren explore new
technology. It is always ‘a buzz’’ as children try their hand at
educational tools that are touted to engage and assist with
reading readiness skills.. In this space, children discover the AWE
machine (an interactive game system teaching preschool
curriculum), which averages more than 150 users every month.
The Mark Twain awards are easily identified with face out shelving. The books are
flying off the shelves. Come join us in a space of exciting reading and discovery.

The library
provided

258,981
items

CIRCULATION 2012 HIG
HIGHLIGHTS
. . .more numbers. . .

to library
users in 2012.

One of our more exciting new library services in 2012 is the growth of the
resource sharing consortium, Missouri Evergreen.

Users can now peruse the catalog of any library in the consortium (or all of them at once!) They place requests for
books, movies, music, and more to be sent to the Poplar Bluff Municipal Library for pick up and check out. This gives
our patrons more control over their
eir library experience as they easily access and discover more resources about a
subject; place the request; and track the status of their request with their account in the consortium catalog.
The Poplarr Bluff Municipal Library was th
the first Evergreen library in July of 2011. Starting in August 2012, seven
libraries were added and resource sharing began. There are several more libraries signed up and awaiting migration
mig
to Missouri Evergreen. This service can only continue to grow pro
providing
viding more resources to our library users.
AUG
Missouri Evergreen RS

5

OCLC Interlibrary Loan

223

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SEP

OCT

NOV

DEC

Total Total for Year

27

37

62

122

253

159

156

147

94

779

253
2018

Equates to
more than

$45,000
in savings

I

GENEALOGY
. . .our numbers. . .
The genealogy workstations, while accounting for only 4% of total logins, are providing among the greatest
database statistics. Ancestry.com is accessible only in the library and amassed an
impressive 24,904 searches performed by patrons in
2012. HeritageQuest,, is available both in
in-house and
outside of the library with a library card and racked up the
second highest database usage
with 7,812 searches. Overall, the combination of these
accounted for 36% of the database statistics.
The Butler County Genealogicall Society has continued to
support the growth of the genealogy collection by
donating memorials in memory of deceased members and
their family members.
Taking off in 2012 was the "Genealogy @ the Library"
blog. The blog was viewed just under 4,400 times over
the course of the year. Posts included items of local history, new items added to the Genealogy Reference
collection, tips and tricks to assist genealogists looking for new resources available online, and reminders of
important events. Hopefully, these
ese tidbits help them place their ancestor's life in
historical context and add a new dimension to their family history.

A SNAPSHOT
. . .in numbers. . .

475 microfilm covering from 1877 to present day

3,821 audiobooks
checked out in 2012

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475 reels of microfilm
hold 135 years of
history stored in the
local newspaper

FACILITIES & GROUNDS
Strong emphasis is on project work. Considerable time was spent clearing areas throughout the building and
utilizing offsite storage to facilitate area changes (theater storage was moved into the children’s
’s library closet),
and many hours were spent segregating good and salvage equipment, centrally locating surplus, preparing old
storage room for Business Services office, etc. Shelving was installed in the adult stacks.
Installations of communications network cabling and devices were required for these moves
moves. Installed devices
included: Sonos speaker systems in Theater
heater and Conference Room, Apple
pple wireless radio devices in the Children’s
Library and installation of new wave public computer table. Cables to new office areas, cable for Theater for new
wireless radio, relocating Conference Room phone to conference table were installed.
Simultaneously, work is underway on site safety procedures, security needs and contract service reviews (fire
alarm system checks and drills, exit signage and emergency lights, procedures for missing child, tornado
warnings, earthquake response and others are in process awaiting review, approvals and/orr training.) Effort is
ongoing for door codes and keys related
to building security.
Repair of Conference Room HVAC is
complete.
Needed expenditures in immediate future
consist of security locks, lighting,
shelving, spring HVAC service, grounds
maintenance and support to complete
other improvements in progress.
Every day, these are improvements making
Looking forward to 2013, the library
Poplar Bluff Municipal Library a better place to be.
needs painting inside and out as well as
grounds work (front retainer wall, clear
seal new walkway, re-lamp
lamp outside fixtures, review grounding requirements for roof top temp control units,
units paint
original 1936
36 entry, paint window seals.

LIBRARY TECHNOLOGY R
ROADMAP
Keeping abreast of technological change consumed the year for the library. Most of the 60+
staff and public workstations boast the latest OS and software tools. The remaining are
slated to be upgraded in the second
ond quarter of FY 2013.
Full time staff are equipped with mobile devices to assist in the discharge of their duties. Providing these tools
became increasingly important this year as the world of eBooks and tablet computing exploded and
consumers turned to the library for information on how to make these tools effective components of their
everyday lives.
In light of the passage of Prop 1, a keen eye was turned to infrastructure and scalability in 2012. The
opportunity to move library services outside of library walls being a reality for the first time in many years
meant that time and attention be given to the mechan
mechanics
ics of such an operation. This led to the purchase and
upgrade of such systems as VoIP phone, MERAKI WiFi system, SONOS sound and the formation
forma
of a new
position, Emerging Technologies Administrator. MERAKI WiFi enables the library to offer free unlimited WiFi
to all in 2013.
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PROP 1: YEAR IN REVIEW
EVIEW
To Our Community
A resounding and heartfelt
heart

“Thank
you””
“T
hank you
is in due order:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Thank you to our
ur library patrons.
Thank you to the community of Poplar
Bluff.
Thank you to the Library Board of
Trustees.
Thank you to the Friends of the Library.
Thank you to the City of Poplar Bluff.
Thank you to the Library Staff.
Thank you to our State Congressional
Leaders.

Without each and every one of these longstanding and avid library supporters, the
Proposition 1 initiative would not have passed.

Prop 1 Commitments delivered

. . .in numbers. . .

Eliminate the city's
library property tax.

•Delivered:
Delivered: On August 6, 2012, the Libary Board
of Trustees voted unanimously to set the city's
library property tax rate to "0" (zero) for FY13.